Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Diagnosing Abdominal Pain in the Emergency Department

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Point of care ultrasound: The abdominal point-of-care ultrasound examination is performed by the enrolling emergency physician at the bedside, as part of the initial assessment, rather than by a radiologist or sonographer. The examination follows a standardized scanning protocol developed by the study steering committee, covering conditions that are common or critical in the emergency department, accessible to point-of-care ultrasound, and supported by evidence on diagnostic accuracy. The examination typically takes 5 to 10 minutes. Findings may guide further diagnostics or treatment at the physician's discretion.

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if adding an abdominal ultrasound scan to the standard examination helps emergency physicians make a correct diagnosis in adults with acute abdominal pain in the emergency department. The main question it aims to answer is:

Does adding an abdominal point of care ultrasound scan to the standard examination increase the number of patients with acute abdominal pain in the emergency department, who get a correct preliminary diagnosis?

Researchers will compare patients examined with an abdominal point-of-care ultrasound scan in addition to the standard examination to patients examined with the standard examination alone, to see if adding ultrasound improves diagnostic accuracy.

Participants will:

* Be randomly assigned to also have an abdominal point-of-care ultrasound scan performed by their doctor, or not
* Have their doctor record a preliminary diagnosis and differential diagnosis
* Have their medical records reviewed by an independent panel 30 days after their visit, to determine their final diagnosis

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Correct preliminary diagnosis — From enrollment to after 30 days
  The primary outcome is the correct preliminary diagnosis, defined as agreement between the enrolling physician's preliminary diagnosis and the final adjudicated diagnosis.

Trial sites (3)

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